


once upon a dream

by aliensroutthere



Series: Zutara Month 2017 [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s02e20 The Crossroads of Destiny, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 10:03:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12909630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliensroutthere/pseuds/aliensroutthere
Summary: whenever they fought, something felt... wrong.





	once upon a dream

**Author's Note:**

> Canon Divergence, set during the Crossroads of Destiny  
> (any familiar dialogue belongs to the show)  
> (s/o to mandy and eddie <3)

Prompt: Past Lives

* * *

 

 

Whenever they fought, something felt…  _ wrong.  _

 

Katara knew that she should hate the firebending prince. He chased them all over the world, getting in their way and trying to capture Aang. He had attacked her village, and their battles were too numerous to count. 

 

But whenever she saw him, something inside her reached out to him. He was somehow familiar, and with each bending form she went through as they fought, something inside her told her that she was fighting a friend. 

 

It was infuriating! 

 

Each time she saw him, that feeling inside her grew. 

 

And now, she was trapped with him, in a cave under Ba Sing Se. 

 

The universe must hate her. 

 

She stole a glance at him. He stood a ways away with a sour expression on his face. She empathised with him for a moment without realising, and furiously tried to tamp the feeling down. 

 

_ How dare he make me feel bad for him!  _

 

In an effort to bring back her anger towards him, she turned to him and frowned. “Why did they throw you in here?” she asked. 

 

Zuko, of course, did not answer. 

 

His silence made Katara’s frown deepen.  _ He really is the worst,  _ she thought.  _ And yet… _

 

“Oh, wait, let me guess,” she said scathingly. “It’s a trap. So that when Aang shows up to help me, you can try and capture him!”

 

Zuko still said nothing, which further infuriated Katara. She allowed her anger to take over, turning to fully look at him. “You’re a terrible person!” she exclaimed. “All you do is follow us around and try to capture Aang. It’s not surprising, really. You’re the Fire Lord’s son. All you do is spread war and violence! It’s in your blood!”

 

This finally got Zuko’s attention. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he mumbled, and Katara glared at him. 

 

“How dare you! You don’t understand how awful it is!” she said, struggling to control the emotion that began to colour her voice. “You don’t know what this war has put me through.” A single tear rolled down her cheek. “The Fire Nation took my mother away from me.”

 

Zuko stared at her, eyes wide. Katara looked away, and furiously wiped at her eyes. She couldn’t show weakness to the enemy! 

 

Deep down, something inside of her told her she should reach out to him for comfort. She ignored it, and focused on her tears. 

 

“I’m sorry,” Zuko finally said, and Katara was surprised at how honest he sounded. “That’s something we have in common.”

 

Katara’s eyes widened in shock. The urge to go and comfort  _ him  _ became more and more insistent. 

 

She shook her head, trying to sort out her conflicting emotions. 

 

Somehow, being here with him felt… right. Familiar. Even though they were imprisoned, and still technically enemies, Katara felt an odd sense of peace when she was with him. Peace, but also anger, resentment, and empathy. 

 

_ This is such a mess,  _ she thought. 

 

“I’m sorry I yelled at you before,” she mumbled.

 

“It doesn’t matter,” came the reply from behind her. 

 

_ It does,  _ she thought. “We’ve been enemies for so long. Whenever I thought of the enemy, it was your face I saw,” she said, turning to face him.

 

Zuko seemed to deflate. “My face. I see,” he said, his hand reaching towards his scar.

 

Katara realized how he had taken her words. “No, not like that,” she said, standing and taking a step towards him. 

 

Zuko shook his head. “I used to think the scar defined who I am,” he said. “The banished prince, forced to chase the Avatar. But now I know that the scar doesn’t define me at all.”

 

Katara came to stand in front of him. “Maybe… maybe you could be free of it,” she said hesitantly. “I can heal people. I could try and heal you.”

 

Zuko looked hopeful for a moment, and then his expression darkened. “It’s a scar. Scars don’t heal,” he replied, bitterly. 

 

Katara hesitated, before reaching for the vial around her throat. “This water is from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole,” she said. “Maybe it would work.” She studied his face, and reached up slowly towards his scar. 

 

As soon as her hand made contact with his face, an intense wave of familiarity crashed over them, and they froze. 

 

Something inside Katara sang out at the contact between them, and the rest of her was shocked.

 

Zuko stared at her, looking surprised. “This feels right,” he murmured. 

 

Katara looked back at him with confusion. “What do you mean, right?” she asked.

 

To her amazement, Zuko  _ blushed.  _ “I didn’t mean to say that,” he mumbled. Katara took it as a sign of encouragement. 

 

“Wait, no,” she said. “Have you-have you noticed anything... weird, when we fight?” 

 

She waited as Zuko processed her words, and almost immediately she regretted them.  _ He’s gonna think I’m crazy,  _ she thought bitterly. 

 

To her surprise, he slowly nodded. 

 

“It feels wrong,” he said quietly, and Katara sighed in relief. 

 

“When we fight, it’s either wrong, or it feels like a dance,” she said, and Zuko nodded. 

 

“You’re supposed to be the enemy,” he said, and Katara frowned. “No, you know what I mean. We’re supposed to hate each other.”

 

“But here we are,” Katara murmured.

 

She had never really taken the time to look at him properly. Usually, their contact was in the heat of battle, and any time she looked at him it was with mistrust and hate. Now, it was different. 

 

He was beautiful. 

 

_ What in the name of Tui and La is happening! He’s pretty, but he’s awful, but he really isn’t… is he? _

 

Katara bit her lip. “So what do we do n-”

 

Suddenly, the side of the cavern exploded, leaving a gaping hole in the wall and revealing a tunnel. Standing in the mouth of the cavern was Aang, and the old man that Katara had seen travelling with Zuko. 

 

Aang bounded towards Katara. “I knew we’d find you!” he exclaimed, and pulled her into a hug. 

 

Iroh followed more slowly, moving to embrace his nephew. 

 

“Uncle! Why are you with the Avatar?” Zuko asked after Iroh released him. 

 

“We have come to rescue you,” Iroh replied. 

 

“We need to go,” Katara interjected. “The Dai Li could be anywhere.”

 

“You two go on ahead,” Iroh said, nodding to her and Aang. 

 

Aang began to walk towards the tunnel, but Katara did not move.

 

“No,” she said. “I won’t leave without Zuko.”

 

She didn’t know exactly what was between them, but she knew they had a connection. It was confusing and it made her angry, but it was still there. She wasn’t going to let it disappear without figuring it out. 

 

Zuko looked at her with surprise.

 

Iroh shook his head. “While I appreciate your courage, Miss, I do need to speak with my nephew.”

 

Katara frowned. “No,” she said. “We all need to get out of here. There isn’t time. And I’m not leaving without him. So, we all have to go, now.”

 

She couldn’t help but wonder how long it had been since anyone other than Iroh had stood by Zuko.

 

Zuko looked at his Uncle. “Uncle, Katara’s right. We have to leave. I’m going with her.”

 

Iroh looked at Zuko with surprise, but it soon morphed into an expression of pride. 

 

“Very well! Miss Katara, it is an honour to meet you,” Iroh said, and bowed to Katara. 

 

Katara bowed to Iroh in return, feeling very flattered. 

 

“Uh, guys?” Aang called from the mouth of the tunnel. “We still have to leave.”

 

Katara checked to make sure Zuko was following, and she headed out of the cavern.

 

_ This is still really weird,  _ Katara thought.  _ But it feels right, somehow.  _

 

She glanced back at Zuko, and he smiled hesitantly at her. 

 

_ We’ll figure things out eventually.  _


End file.
